Anniversary
by PoeticallyIncorrect1
Summary: It's been a year since Miles joined the NIH and Natalie recalls the first time she met him.


Don't own Medical Investigation but if I did I'd have bribed NBC to keep it on the air.

ANNIVERSARY

As soon as she'd returned to work after the events in Central America, Natalie had circled a certain date on her calander. And now that day had finally arrived. It was exactly one year ago that  
she had met Miles when he joined the NIH. Sitting at her desk, she could recall that day as clearly as if it had been just yesterday.

xxxxx

Stephen had called her into his office to explain or complain about Kate's choice of candidate for the new doctor on the team.

"Is Kate out of her mind? Instead of sending me someone with years of experience, she sends me some damn kid!"

Natalie calmly waited for Stephan to finish before asking, "He is a doctor, isn't he?"

"Well, he does have an MD degree but you couldn't tell it by looking at him," Stephen replied. He opened up the folder he'd been waving around and passed her a photograph. "His name is Dr. Miles McCabe and you can decide for yourself."

Natalie stared a moment at the photo of the young man. He certainly didn't look like he'd spent the past two years as a resident in a busy ER. The words "Doogie Howser" breifly crossed her mind as she commented, "He definitely does look young."

"Yeah. Apparently he was smart enough to skip a few grades and graduate Med school at age twenty-two. If he doesn't work out, I've got a few other doctors that seem better suited for the position.

Natalie noticed he hadn't said, "older" but the unspoken word was there nonetheless. "At least give him a fair chance," she said.

"I will. Look, when he gets here at 10:30 I'll have him sent to your office. have a meeting with the rest of the other team leaders and it's one I can't get out of," Stephen told her.

"Ah, the joys of being in charge," Natalie commented as she handed back the photo.

Stephan glanced at his watch. "I need to be getting to that meeting. But I want us to get together later so I can get your opinion on young Dr. McCabe," he said, putting a slight emphasis on  
the word "young"

"Have fun at your meeting," Natalie replied as she watched him walk out. Getting to her feet, she headed for her office to await the arrival of young Dr. McCabe.

10:30 came and went as Natalie sat at her desk doing paperwork. Finally at 10:45 a hesitant knock sounded on her door and she called out, "Come on in."

Dr. Miles McCabe definitely appeared younger than his photograph. Trying to conceal the nervousness he was most certainly feeling, he looked straight at the woman at the desk and said, "You're not Dr. Connor."

Natalie smiled and replied, "No, I'm Dr. Natalie Durant. And you must be Dr. McCabe."

"I am. I thought I was supposed to meet with Dr. Stephan Connor today and he'd show me around."

He got called into a meeting," Natalie told the younger doctor. "So now you get me."

"When do I get to meet the rest of the team?" Miles asked.

"Later. They're both out today. Frank Powell is on a school trip to D.C. with his oldest daughter's class and Eva Rossi is home recovering from a cold," Natalie answered. She glanced at the  
clock. "You were supposed to have been here fifteen minutes ago."

A sheepish expression flitted across his face and he ducked his head. "I. um, kind of got a little lost," he admitted.

"Don't worry about it. It'll take for you to get used to finding your way about," Natalie assured him as she got to her feet. "Now, time for that tour."

"You wouldn't happen to have a map handy?" Miles asked.

"I'll see what I can do," she replied as she led the way to the briefing/conference room. "You're going to be on call pretty much 24-7."

"That's how it was at the hospital," Miles replied as he trailed after her.

"So, how come you decided it was time to join the NIH?" Natalie asked.

"I just felt it was time for a change, Dr. Durant," Miles stated and shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's just drop all this formality. I'm not going to be your boss since I also have to answer to Dr. Connor. Why don't you just call me Natalie?" she suggested.

"I don't think Dr. Connor likes me very much," the younger doctor told her.

"He just hasn't gotten the chance to know you, Miles. To see how you work. I bet you're going to fit in very well."

"You think so?" Miles asked, a hopeful expression on his face.

"Just give yourself a chance and don't let Dr. Connor get to you.He can be pretty intimidating at times." She reached over and patted Miles on the shoulder. "As soon as this tour is over, I'll  
buy you lunch. And I promise you that a year from now I'll be doing it again."

xxxxx

Pulling her attention back to the present, Natalie picked up her purse and headed for the door. It was time to keep that promise.

She found Miles in his office, his head bent over a medical journal and giving it his full attention. "Tapping him lightly on the shoulder, she said, "It's lunch time, Miles."

He looked up at her and said, "Hi, Nat. I didn't hear you come in. What are you doing here?"

"Just keeping a promise I made," she said lightly.

"What?"

"Miles, do you know what today is?" Natalie asked patiently.

"It's a Friday and I think the 26th. Why?" he asked.

Remember, I told you a year ago that you'd still be with the team and I'd buy you lunch to celebrate," Natalie replied.

"It's that time already? Time sure does fly when we're having fun," Miles commented, picking up a piece of paper to mark his spot in the journal.

"It hasn't all been fun and games though," Natalie answered. "Now are you going to have lunch with me? You get to pick the place."

"You mean we get to sneak out of here?" Miles joked as he got to his feet.

Natalie had to laugh at the hopeful expression on his face. "Yes, we get to sneak out of here and not be disturbed for at least an hour. I got Stephan to promise that."

"Does that mean you're going to buy me lunch every year?" Miles was asking as they headed for Natalie's car.

"Hey, don't press your luck," Natalie answered and lightly punched him on the arm. "Now tell me where we're going."

"The same place we had lunch last year," he replied, a grin on his handsome face.


End file.
